Forging Destiny
Luoyang Central Government Office.
"…Damn it."
The official who had gone out to secure the Luoyang Sword Family's permission to open the floodgates on the upper Yellow River scowled.
"To think there wouldn't be a single carriage waiting…"
Because of the torrential rain, every department was on emergency footing, and for that very reason, not a single carriage that ought to have been standing by near the entrance was in sight.
"Hell. Am I supposed to ride a horse in this weather…?"
Unbidden, the image rose in his mind of a horse's ankle snapping in the muck—and then his own neck breaking right after.
Just then, a carriage bearing the crest of the Luoyang Sword Family came racing in and drew up before the main entrance of the Central Government Office.
"……?"
The door flew open, and a high-ranking civil officer of the Luoyang Sword Family, clad in silk, stepped into view.
"You there! Are you an official of the Central Government Office?!"
He had to shout over the rain and thunder.
"Yes, that's correct, but…!"
The moment the official nodded, the civil officer dispatched from the Luoyang Sword Family cried out,
"Convey this at once, effective immediately—open the floodgates! This is the decision of the Luoyang Sword Family's Supreme Operations Committee!"
At those words, the official could not hide his startled expression.
How was it that the Luoyang Sword Family had come to them first, before he had even managed to go seeking them out?
The Second Young Master's camp of the Luoyang Sword Family.
"All of the allied family heads who had been isolated in the Geomga Jeonjang have returned to their respective houses."
Even the Central Investigation Department could not have held the heads of powerful houses indefinitely when they had no direct connection to the cases under investigation.
At the messenger's words, everyone let out a breath of relief.
"…With this, at least we've avoided being beaten one-sidedly."
"Our Luoyang faction houses are rolling up their sleeves and throwing themselves in as well, so the First Young Mas—"
"……"
Under Grand Madam Guyang's gaze—she who hated hearing Yeon So-hyeon called the First Young Master—he hastily corrected himself.
"—crushing that Yeon So-hyeon's dogs is only a matter of time."
"…After everything that's happened so far, can you say that so easily?"
"……"
It was welcome news in its own right, yet the elders of the Second Young Master's side could not rest easy.
From the moment Yeon So-hyeon had first stepped outside, to the present day—nothing had ever unfolded the way they wanted.
True, affairs of the world often struck unforeseen reefs that no plan could account for. But this man they called the First Young Master was no mere reef. He was an iceberg adrift upon the open sea.
"How are the talks with the Yeon bloodline proceeding?"
"A few of them have already pledged their cooperation."
As the saying goes, the thief feels his own feet itch. After the Family Head's absence, those of the Yeon bloodline who had been lining their pockets through the Geomga Jeonjang readily took this side's hand.
"But those who had no involvement seem to want to watch the situation a little longer. They show every sign of reluctance to stick their necks out first."
"Plenty of them are demanding unreasonable terms as well."
"They're trying to strip every last scrap of meat they can from this opportunity."
"…A pack of stray dogs."
Listening to the exchange, Elder Xiahou set the course.
"Don't be petty about it and try to hoard political capital."
He toyed with his eyepatch and cast his gaze around the room.
"Negotiate—but you must secure their cooperation no matter what."
"Of course."
"Indeed, it must be so."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"By the way—why is part of the Business Support Unit so slow in handling their affairs?"
The gambit was to recover funds the Business Support Unit had poured through the Geomga Jeonjang, thereby pressuring the First Young Master's enterprises.
The elder charged with communicating with that section of the Support Unit cleared his throat uncomfortably.
"They are processing the work at an unusually rapid pace, even while drawing pointed fingers from other departments within the Business Support Unit itself."
That speed had surprised even those on the First Young Master's side.
"With the Geomga Jeonjang currently under investigation by the Central Investigation Department, it will take a little more time—but in the end, every last bit of the capital will be reclaimed."
While the Luoyang faction elders carried on a lively discussion whether they liked it or not, the Jiangnan faction elders kept their mouths shut.
"……"
Since it was the Luoyang faction leading this confrontation with the First Young Master, they had little choice but to remain passive.
"Honored elders of the Jiangnan faction."
But Grand Madam Guyang was not one to simply sit and watch such a spectacle in this situation.
"Is there no one among you who has something to say?"
"……"
At the words of the woman who was having her nails tended by her maids even as she observed the council, the Jiangnan faction elders exchanged glances.
"…There is one matter."
"Speak freely, Elder Son."
The one who finally opened his mouth was Elder Son, who had once been charged with the First and Fourth Young Masters.
"After leaving the Geomga Jeonjang by ox-cart, the last place the First Young Master was sighted was near the Yongbongjihoe Arena Construction Site."
"This Grand Madam heard the same."
Grand Madam Guyang nodded and asked,
"And what of it…?"
Before answering, Elder Son arranged his thoughts once more.
"That man Yeon So-hyeon has never once moved within the range of our predictions."
"…But he has not yet slipped from our grasp."
At Elder Son's words, Grand Madam Guyang's mouth twisted in irritation.
"I do not raise this to paint the present situation in a dark light. Nor am I laying groundwork to cover myself later."
"Then…?"
Cold sweat beaded on the brows of the maids attending her nails.
Yet even under her piercing stare, Elder Son pressed on with what he had to say.
"At present, the reason we can pour our full strength into this is because the Third Young Master's side has left the front lines empty."
The Luoyang faction elders clicked their tongues at once.
"What, so this time Yeon So-hyeon is going to solve the entire mess the Third Young Master's side is tangled up in?"
"Now there's a load of nonsense—"
Some openly sneered.
"You've been burned a few times before, Elder Son, and now it seems you're deifying that Yeon So-hyeon."
"Do you mean to say the Third Young Master's side will simply sit and watch their own rice bowl get snatched away?"
"……"
Elder Son closed his mouth, and the Jiangnan faction elders shot him sharp looks. Of all the things to bring up… You'd have been more help keeping quiet. Their eyes said as much—why court resentment for nothing?
"……"
But Elder Son laced his fingers, closed his eyes, and ignored even his colleagues' stares.
"Everyone, be silent."
Unexpectedly, it was Grand Madam Guyang—whose temper Elder Son's words had ruffled—who raised a hand and quieted the room.
"This Grand Madam, too, thinks it is needless worry on Elder Son's part…"
Her gaze turned to Elder Xiahou.
Elder Xiahou nodded and addressed the assembly.
"As they say—better safe than sorry, and prepare for the unexpected. It would be wise to at least look into it, just in case."
The Luoyang faction elders wore displeased faces at that, but none objected. Compared to the First Young Master's side, their resources were overwhelmingly abundant; that much was no waste at all.
"Since your side raised the matter, why don't you go and confirm it with the Third Young Master's side yourselves?"
We're busy—you handle that kind of work. That was the meaning.
"I will go."
At the Luoyang faction elder's words, Elder Son rose from his seat as if he had been waiting for exactly that.
"If Yeon So-hyeon's current location is indeed confirmed to be the Yongbongjihoe Arena Construction Site…"
"Understood."
Elder Xiahou readily accepted Elder Son's concern.
"The moment it is confirmed, we will treat his aim as restoring the Third Young Master's side to the front lines, and begin our response accordingly."
With a look of some small relief, Elder Son left the council chamber.
"Hmm. No matter how I turn it over, it still feels like a waste of effort…"
The conversation of those remaining drifted after him from behind.
"Still, it isn't entirely impossible that Yeon So-hyeon prepared a response in advance, is it?"
"You're saying he predicted a popular uprising that no one knew when or where would erupt?"
"What is he, a prophet…?"
Realistically, it was impossible.
And so not one among them dared to imagine that the First Young Master might already have finished the work.
A few hours earlier.
A wild hill near the Luoyang Sword Family.
The Chairman spoke as if in a sigh.
"…At this point, it is impossible for the Supreme Operations Committee to intervene first in resolving the disturbance."
If they rashly stepped in for a peaceful mediation, the outcome would clearly not be good.
"If the Supreme Operations Committee moves first, the Third Young Master's side will only dig in their heels and throw up obstacles."
And if obstruction made the matter go awry—then the fact that they themselves had provided the cause of the disturbance would be buried, and every last scrap of blame for the damage could be laid at the Supreme Operations Committee's feet.
"Which is why we had no choice but to leave the resolution to the Third Young Master's side from the start…"
"I know."
Amcheonjonza bared those sharp teeth beneath his mask and twisted a smile.
"Which is why I prepared this."
He drew a document from his robes and passed it to the Chairman.
"…This is—from the Luoyang Branch Office?"
There was no way the Chairman could fail to recognize the seal stamped upon the rigorously sealed document.
He broke the seal, checked the contents—and his face lit up in an instant.
"Can this be…!"
His voice trembled.
"Now intervention is possible, is it not?"
Unable to tear his eyes from the document, the Chairman answered,
"With this, it is possible…!"
The aged warrior who had been sinking under powerlessness a moment before was no more.
"It is possible. Yes—more than possible. With this, it is more than enough!"
The Luoyang Sword Family's ceaseless growth, so that it would neither tear nor fall.
"If it is not the Supreme Operations Committee, but the Luoyang Branch Office that steps forward first like this, then we will have more than sufficient justification to intervene in turn—and without giving the Third Young Master's side almost any room to interfere, everything will be resolved!"
And the side effects that forever burst forth from that growth had always sat ill with the Chairman.
Those side effects, piled high since the Family Head's absence, had by now been eating even into his soul.
"How long has it been since a matter could be resolved so cleanly…?"
Emotion. Joy. And relief.
Only—
Not in words alone, but in action—
The First Young Master had made the aged warrior feel that he was not alone.
Amcheonjonza did not interrupt the Chairman caught in that whirl of tangled feelings. He simply drew back and watched in silence.
"…But."
It did not take long for the Chairman, still steeped in emotion, to sense something amiss.
"To make that peace-at-any-price Luoyang Branch Office prepare this document—what kind of bargain would one even have to strike…?"
An ordinary man, with feelings so violently stirred, would not have been able to keep his rational thoughts flowing properly.
"No—before that. To arrange a deal of a scale the Luoyang Branch Office would accept—how far in advance would one have needed to prepare…?"
He was the Chairman of the Supreme Operations Committee.
The current head of the Luoyang Sword Family, the foremost house under heaven.
"But to make such preparations, one would have to know what was going to unfold…?"
The Chairman's gaze, reeling with confusion, turned upon Amcheonjonza.
"And even if one had known from the start what was going to happen—countless variables would still have arisen in the course of events…"
He had long known the abilities of the man called First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon.
Or rather—he had thought he knew them.
But he had not.
"…Just how did you do this?"
Amcheonjonza looked up at the sky where the clouds churned roughly, and answered,
"What one knows, one employs. What one can employ, one controls. What one can control, one leads."
"……"
Toward the Chairman, who could find no words, the gaze of that inscrutable being turned.
"The rain that is about to fall will, in all likelihood, become a downpour."
Amcheonjonza—the First Young Master—spoke as calmly as if it were nothing at all.
"It would be best to prepare to open the floodgates on the upper Yellow River."
He added,
"The Luoyang Branch Office that would have to issue the order will be vacant. So you—the Supreme Operations Committee—will have to issue the command to the Central Government Office in its place."
Present.
The fortified district of the impoverished laborers.
The command of the uprising forces.
"Certainly."
First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon said,
"With the authority of First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon alone, it would not be enough. But…"
Yeon So-hyeon wore a faint smile.
"The true power of authority sometimes arises from the ability to make those with even greater power listen—and move."
He drew a document from his robes.
"And when that happens—this is the sort of result that follows."
The nearest of the chivalrous warriors—himself a former martial of the Luoyang Sword Family—received the document with careful respect.
The seal had already been broken, yet still hung there, the stamp of the Luoyang Branch Office standing out clear and sharp.
On behalf of the other warriors, he read the contents aloud.
…That these subjects dared to reject the rule of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor and raise rebellion by spear and blade is treason against His Imperial Majesty, and thus constitutes the crime of high treason…
…Therefore, in accordance with the solemn law of the Empire, that crime shall be extended by association, and the three generations of every traitor shall be put to the sword.
…However.
An official must first take the measure of the people's poverty and hunger, and regard them with compassion. For this is what is required of an official who watches over the people in His Imperial Majesty's stead…
…Having keenly felt that responsibility, this Luoyang Branch Magistrate lays down his office, and through the last of the authority remaining to him, dares to lighten their crime and grant them one more chance.
…Therefore it is decided that the offenders shall be sentenced to permanent penal labor, and, pitying their condition, the guidance and responsibility for them hereafter is entrusted to First Young Master Yeon So-hyeon of the Luoyang Sword Family, who has stepped forward to reform the offenders.
Yeon So-hyeon added briefly,
"For reference—the Supreme Operations Committee of the Luoyang Sword Family will reach the same decision."
In that instant, a fierce roar of cheers burst through the downpour.